Living conditions

All of the camps were constructed according to the War Department's specifications, which included barbed-wire fences, guard towers, and armed guards around the perimeter. The camps were organized in "blocks" consisting of twelve to fourteen barracks, a mess hall, communal showers and toilets, laundry facilities, and a recreation hall. Each barracks was divided into four or six rooms with each room housing one family, no matter how large, and there was no running water. The furnishings that Japanese Americans found on their arrival were canvas cots, a potbellied stove, and a single bare light bulb. The thin walls offered little protection from the harsh weather, which ranged from 110 degrees in the summer to 25 degrees below zero on winter nights. The flimsy construction allowed no privacy and made normal family life difficult. Camp inmates improved their own living conditions by creating interior walls and partitions, constructing furniture from scrap lumber, and planting gardens.

World War II (231)
Concentration camps (1434)
Living conditions (1751)

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1751 items

img Japanese Americans in mess hall (ddr-densho-37-738)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-738/

img Camp administration buildings (ddr-densho-37-778)

Original WRA caption: Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado. A review of the administrative area after a December snow storm. At the left is the post office and the two buildings at the right are administrative office buildings.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-778/

img Camp garden (ddr-densho-37-233)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-233/

img Muddy conditions (ddr-densho-37-350)

Original WRA caption: Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, California. Thaws turn the streets and firebreaks into seas of mud, and makes difficult motor transportation through the center.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-350/

img Shower facilities (ddr-densho-37-477)

Original WRA caption: Poston, Arizona. Typical shower facilities at this War Relocation authority center for evacuees of Japanese ancestry.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-477/

img View of camp perimeter and guard tower (ddr-densho-37-237)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-237/

img Barracks interior (ddr-densho-37-828)

Original WRA caption: Poston, Arizona. Interior view of barrack construction at this War Relocation Authority center for evacuees of Japanese ancestry.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-828/

img Japanese American workers waiting in line (ddr-densho-37-421)

Original WRA caption: Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, California. A line up of evacuee workers waiting for their identification tags which are to be used in conjunction with the first pay day at this War Relocation Authority Center.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-421/

img Japanese Americans filling straw mattresses (ddr-densho-37-404)

Original WRA caption: Poston, Arizona. Filling straw ticks for mattresses at Colorado River Relocation center for evacuees of Japanese ancestry.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-404/

img Camp barracks (ddr-densho-37-541)

Original WRA caption: Rohwer Relocation Center, McGehee, Arkansas. Barrack scene at Rohwer Relocation Center.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-541/

img Camp street (ddr-densho-37-810)

Original WRA caption: Manzanar Relocation Center, Manzanar, California. Street scene and view of quarters for evacuees of Japanese ancestry at Manzanar reception center. High Sierras in background.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-810/

img Camp gate (ddr-densho-37-228)

Original WRA caption: Tule Lake was different [referring to the camp's gate procedures]. Every evacuee leaving the colony behind the eight-foot fence was required to show a pass to the administrative area. Here, the ambulance stops at Gate 3, vehicle entrance to the colony, so the driver and attendant may show their passes to the Internal …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-228/

img Aerial view of Amache concentration camp, Colorado (ddr-densho-37-772)

Original WRA caption: Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado. On a Sunday afternoon at the Amache Center, the day is calm and the warm December sun invites center residents from their barracks homes.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-772/

img Camp boundary sign (ddr-densho-37-835)

Original caption: Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, California. (L to R) Frank Vail, newsreel cameraman for Pathe, and Joe Rucker, for Paramont, photograph boundry markers.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-835/

img Japanese Americans walking in the snow (ddr-densho-37-240)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-240/

img Row of barracks (ddr-densho-37-79)

Original WRA caption: Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, California. A view down one of the streets of the relocation center, showing the artistic way in which the evacuees decorate the exterior of their barracks to make them more homelike.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-79/

img Minidoka concentration camp (ddr-densho-37-424)

Original WRA caption: Minidoka Relocation Center, Hunt, Idaho. Looking down at the rows of barracks westward from block 44. At extreme left is a corner of the dining hall where the 275 to 300 residents of the block eat. At center background is the sanitation building including showers, lavatories, toilets and washtubs. Nearly all the residents …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-424/

img Children walking in an concentration camp (ddr-densho-37-802)

Original WRA caption: Jerome Relocation Center, Dermott, Arkansas. Young children at Jerome Relocation Center.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-802/

img View of barracks (ddr-densho-37-171)

Original WRA caption: View of barracks looking east down the main fire break.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-171/

img Japanese Americans in front of remodeled barrack (ddr-densho-37-51)

Japanese Americans tried to make camp life more tolerable in many creative ways, such as renovating their barracks.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-51/

img Flooded conditions (ddr-densho-37-690)

Original WRA caption: Flooded area east of Block 3.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-690/

img Japanese American resting in a barrack (ddr-densho-37-412)

Original WRA caption: Manzanar Relocation Center, Manzanar, California. An evacuee resting on his cot after moving his belongins into this bare barracks room. An army cot and mattress are the only things furnished by the government. All personal belongings were brought by the evacuees.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-412/

img Topaz concentration camp, Utah (ddr-densho-37-833)

Original WRA caption: Topaz, Utah. A typical barracks group with a section of the Topaz Relocation Center.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-833/

img Remodeled barracks exterior (ddr-densho-37-78)

Original WRA caption: A view showing the artistic way in which the evacuees decorate the exterior of the barracks to make them more homelike.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-78/

img Japanese Americans waiting in line for mess hall (ddr-densho-37-812)

Original WRA caption: Manzanar Relocation Center, Manzanar, California. Ready to pass into dining room at Manzanar, a War Relocation Authority center for evacuees of Japanese ancestry.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-812/